Something that is often quoted in business, is that people will buy from people they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for simple ways to sell more products or services online? Then help your prospects get to know, like and trust your business better.
Adding a faculty directory to your website can help to generate greater trust, increase your online credibility and get more prospects to get in touch with you.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff in your website.
How To Add An Employee List Directory To Your Site: Plugin Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you easily staff members.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the WordPress admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will have been added to your WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can start to add new staff member details at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualgroup members into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your categories go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups screen loads in your web browser …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Adding groups works just like WordPress categories …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Create a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – This section lets you set up nested categories
- Description – Enter your category description (optional)
- Click Add New Group when done to set up a new group name …
(Groups settings screen)
If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To change or reassign Groups for specific items, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click Update Group when done …
Continue adding groups to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested groups to your staff directory)
Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can begin to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member settings screen opens up …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Slug: Edit the slug for each employee if required (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Enter your staff member’s position here
- Email: Your employee’s email
- Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type your company’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type in a profile description for your employees here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign your staff member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
After you have finished entering each staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group feature)
A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on Add New Group …
A new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign a staff member to the group …
(New group added)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
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After filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can edit the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar, see this tutorial:
Note: If a page error like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
To learn more about setting up permalinks, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Continue adding new entries to your staff or faculty directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding employees to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the listing entries and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, simply hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members details)
If you have many entries, your list can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find member details if required …
(Search Staff Members search field)
You can specify which fields can display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which your employees display on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its desired position …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding all of your employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which your employees display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added all of your employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin lets you customize the style and layout of your directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates screen)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The The code shown above displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To make these fields appear in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Here is what your staff list should now look like …
(Employee profiles with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can decide to use to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Asia Pacific Region”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Select Staff Members >Options on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Options settings)
Here you can change some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need any help with the plugin, visit the plugin support page and request help from the plugin developer.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your team members in WordPress. For example, here are other free plugins you can check out for adding a directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Modern Team Staff Directory helps you collect your team information and showcase it anywhere on your site in beautiful grids, columns and tables. This premium plugin features over a dozen presets and provides editors that make it easy to edit and update your directory.
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Responsive Templates)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily display a list of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
The plugin also lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.
The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
Go here to learn more:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone number, pic and member bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn more about each staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just an individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
This plugin includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an onsite staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Learn more about the plugin here:
If the directory plugins listed above aren’t what you’re looking for, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has explained how to create a simple and easy-to-update staff directory in your website.
Models used to portray staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)